What We’re Watching: Conservative leadership candidates have until Friday to sign up members for fall vote

Conservative leadership candidate Erin O'Toole takes part in a leadership debate (for the 2017 race) during the Manning Centre Conference in Ottawa on Friday, February 24, 2017. O'Toole is also running for the Tory leadership in 2020. Mathew Usherwood/iPolitics

As the pandemic-imposed House hiatus heads into its ninth straight week, MPs will nevertheless get the chance to continue cross-examining the minority Liberal government over its response to the COVID-19 outbreak to date, courtesy of the SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, which is booked in for at least one extended virtual bearpit session this week.

As per the official notice, the special committee — which is chaired by House Speaker Anthony Rota and includes every sitting MP as a member, although there’s obviously no guarantee that they’ll all get to take part in the discussion — will gather via webcam on Tuesday afternoon for four hours of back-and-forth between MPs and key ministers, including, at least in the past, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself.

Trudeau will also be expected to make an appearance when the special committee holds its weekly in-person get-together, which is usually slotted in for Wednesday afternoon and takes place in the Chamber itself, albeit still under the banner of the special committee and not as an official Commons proceeding.

As of Sunday afternoon, the notice for that meeting had not yet been posted, but barring an unexpected up-ending of the schedule, it should show up within the next 24 hours or so — as, most likely, will the advisory for a second remote get-together on Thursday.

So far, however, there’s no word on whether the House of Commons will have to reconvene for one of its now semi-regular emergency sittings to sign off on $252 million in emergency aid for Canadian farmers and food producers rolled out by Team Trudeau last week.

If it does, expect that sitting to be added to the programme for Wednesday as well, although there’s no guarantee that the government will be able to get the necessary all-party support to fast track any necessary legislation through the Chamber in a single go-round.

Also on the COVID-19 watchlist on the Hill this week: The FINANCE committee gets a virtual briefing from Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux and his team, who are set to deliver a status update on the billions of dollars in emergency expenditures underlying the government’s COVID-19 response to date.

Committee members will also hear from interim auditor general Sylvain Ricard, whose office has been tasked with providing real-time monitoring of the programs as well.

Also on the virtual committee circuit:

INDUSTRY members will get an update on the government’s bid to bolster Canada’s COVID-19-battered sports and cultural sectors — including, but not limited to, news media organizations facing yet another revenue hit with the precipitous drop in paid advertising — when Canadian Heritage Minister Stephen Guilbeault signs on for a 90-minute web session alongside Status of Women Minister Maryam Monsef and their respective deputy ministers, who are booked in for an additional 30 minutes after the joint ministerial appearance wraps up. (Monday 6 – 8 PM)

Over at GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS, MPs will delve into the complex mechanics underlying the delivery of billions of dollars in emergency benefits during back-to-back appearances by Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier and Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, with Canada Revenue Agency commissioner Bob Hamilton and Service Canada’s acting CEO Cliff Groen expected to testify alongside their respective minister. (Monday 2 – 4 PM)

HEALTH members continue to survey medical experts, researchers and patient advocates, including the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the Nurses Association of Canada and the Canadian Health Coalition, on the overall response to the outbreak and explore specific concerns related to the situation in long-term care with the Canadian Association for Retired Persons, the Canadian Association for Long Term Care and British Columbia Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie. (Monday 2-5 PM, Wednesday 4-7 PM)

Both CARP and the Canadian Association for Long Term Care are also on the witness list at HUMAN RESOURCES, which is also holding a session focused on post-secondary education with representatives from Universities Canada, Durham College and the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association. (Monday, 5 – 7 PM)

Finally, PROCEDURE AND HOUSE AFFAIRS members are still working on the final text of their initial report on ensuring MPs can continue to perform their core parliamentary duties during the pandemic, which is due to be reported back to the House — or, at least, to the speaker, who will make the necessary arrangements to have it deemed tabled in the Chamber so it can be distributed to MPs — no later than May 15. (Tuesday 11 – 2 PM)

Conservative leadership hopefuls have until Friday to sign up members for fall vote

May 15 is also a red — or, in this case, possibly blue — letter day for the four Conservatives angling to replace Andrew Scheer as party leader. Under the rules laid out by the organizing committee, it’s also the very last day to sign up new (or returning) members in time for their names to make it onto the official voters list for the current contest.

But while it’s a safe bet that every campaign and contender will lose no time trumpeting their final sales numbers via every available social media platform, it’s also worth keeping in mind that, under the party’s weighted one-member-one-vote preferential ballot system, simply recruiting new — or current — members isn’t enough to secure a first-round victory.

Campaign teams will also have to make sure that they actually fill out and mail in that ballot so that it arrives at party headquarters no later than August 21.

Barring a sudden easing off of the current restrictions on in-person interactions, they’re going to have to do it from a safe distance, which means relying even more heavily on email blasts, social media bulletins and other technological rallying tools.

Adding to the topsy-turviness of the timeline is the absence of a firm date for announcing the results.

According to the latest dispatch from the organizing committee, the final tallies “will be announced as soon as those ballots can be properly processed and examined by scrutineers while respecting any health guidelines in place at that time,” which could mean hours, days or even weeks, depending on exactly what stage of the reopening process is underway at the time.

For the next few days, however, all four campaigns will be focused on racking up not just more membership sales but also collecting all the necessary contact data to keep in touch with those future voters over the next four months.

Bloc leader takes virtual tour to Lac-Saint-Jean

Finally, while most party leaders seem to be staying close to the precinct these days, Bloc Quebecois chef Yves-Francois Blanchet will be continuing his “virtual tour” with an extended online sprint through the Lac-Saint-Jean region, where, accompanied by local Bloc MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, he’ll get a COVID-19 update from regional officials, local businesses and other interested parties. (Monday/Thursday)